Community dialog: South County

Comprehensive gauge not in place for teachers

In response to “Should teachers be graded?” (Opinion, Jan. 13): For the last couple of years talk has heated up regarding evaluating teachers. As a currently employed teacher my curiosity was piqued by [San Diego Unified School District] board member [Kevin] Beiser’s citing of research. In his citing of the American Institute for Research, it broached the topic of test scores for a variety of teachers- co-teachers, support teachers and special-ed teachers.

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If we are going to talk about holding teachers accountable let it be comprehensive to encompass all teachers. I understand classroom teachers have the greatest impact but have yet to hear ANY policymaker at the federal, state and local level provide a solution to evaluate all teachers. How are you going to evaluate a literacy or a math teacher who supports teachers with the curriculum? How are you going to evaluate a special-ed teacher who now fully includes their students in the general-ed population who serves grades K-5 and are in both types of classrooms? How are you going to evaluate special-education providers who serve multiple schools and over 60 students each? How are you going to evaluate a resource teacher for prep-time teachers? A music teacher? An art teacher? A PE teacher? I am a special-ed provider whose immediate supervisor (program manager) is responsible for over 400 people and multiple departments, and the criteria set forth by the union is set only for teachers. How effective is that?

Until policymakers and unions understand and have frank discussions that there are multiple types of teachers in our educational institutions the issues will continue to persist. – Jack Siegfried, Imperial Beach

Proposition 30 was payoff to unions

In response to “Where fair pay equals safer cities” (Editorial, Jan. 18): Finally! It’s about time the taxpayers get involved in putting the fire departments, teachers, and police in their place.

This article is a prime example of how taxpayers are ripped off by so-called firefighters. We need to cut the numbers of this group in at least half; rid them of those huge medieval firetrucks that are severely restricted to paved streets and a few country roads. Take that money, hire more medical technicians and buy more ambulances. And that’s just to start. We need to rid our communities of firefighter ambulance chasers. More “choppers” and fixed-wing craft, along with pilots, could finally put a major dent in the number of deaths and homes lost in the county due to wildfires or any fire. Homeowners could then expect better fire protection, lower house insurance, along with knowing there’s now a firefighting technology on their side instead of the current outlandish demands by unions for higher pay, pensions, medical and other benefits. Generally, ground firefighters are severely limited in their ability to attack and eliminate fires in the mountains and canyons. Choppers and planes are much better in battling fires in the backcountry and near cities. There IS a better way.

For the teachers we need to rid ourselves of spending billion of dollars on failed teaching personnel and methods. A visit to www.kahnacademy.org could finally begin preparing our children for the competitive world where education is key – not the current baby-sitting classes and sports-dominated agenda. The U-T has a whole section devoted to sports and almost nothing about education. It is time to rethink new and better ways to “educate” our children.